Respect Pan Gon, trust the plan - Former national coaches

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian football fans have been told to respect and have faith in the tactics employed by Harimau Malaya head coach Kim Pan Gon in the ongoing 2023 Asian Cup Finals in Qatar.

Former Harimau Muda A coach Mohd Azraai Khor Abdullah stressed that he would never question the tactics used by the national head coach as that would be unethical.

"He (Pan Gon) has his methods. As a coach, it is not ethical for me to comment on another coach's strategies. That is my stance... we must respect (Pan Gon's strategies),” he said when contacted by Bernama today.

Pan Gon's tactics came under fire among local football fans after the Harimau Malaya were thrashed 4-0 by Jordan in their opening 2023 Asian Cup Group E match at the Al Janoub Stadium in Qatar on Jan 15.

On Malaysia's second group match against Bahrain on Saturday (Jan 20), Mohd Azraai is confident the South Korean-born coach will find the right recipe to cook up a storm and make amends for the opening loss.

"Surely Pan Gon won't sit still. He would have reviewed the technical report from his staff to come up with the best game plan for the next match,” he said.

Meanwhile, former national coach Wan Jamak Wan Hassan said the current national coaching panel had made the best decision at that time to stick with the strategy drawn up by Pan Gon for the match against Jordan.

"I cannot suggest any other tactics because every coach knows the players that he wants to field and the tactics that he wants to use when facing a particular team.

"If we look at the starting XI (against Jordan), we fielded our best players. So, there is no reason why they did not perform as expected,” he said.

Malaysia will wrap up their group fixture against two-time champions South Korea on Jan 25.

Get the latest news and information on the 2023 Asian Cup at asiancup.bernama.com. - BERNAMA